The Cupid to my Psyche
by xsimplycomplicatedxx
Summary: Riku is Cupid, a lonely god of love who spends most of his time avoiding everyone and everything. However, a simple request from his father sends him on a journey that he could have never expected. Better than it sounds, I swear.
1. Scene 1: The expectations

**Disclaimer: This story is based on the play "Cupid and Psyche" by Joseph Fischer. I took the story line and replaced the characters with ones from kingdom hearts. I don't own the play or any of the KH characters that I used. You do not need to read the play to understand the story, although it's kind of a different read if you **_**have**_** read the play. But whatever. Just enjoy. :)**

*Scene shift:

The young man walked calmly over the vast floor of nothing. Lacking in walls or ceilings or floors, the only thing that existed was darkness freckled sporadically by the stars. He continued forward, not walking to anything in particular: just glad to have a moment alone; no thoughts or words zooming every which way through his head. This simple quiet, which he was able to experience so infrequently, was what he treasured above almost everything else: this is practically what he lived for. In this vast area of space through which he walked he did not have to think about anything. Indeed, he made an effort to not think about anything but what was around him.

The young man looked at the stars, his only company for the moment. A small part of him wished that they would leave him as well so that he may be even more fully alone, if even for one minute. He vaguely wondered if he could shoot the things out of the sky one by one. Allowing himself to entertain the idea, he pulled the bow that he had brought with him from its place around his shoulder and from the quiver attached to his back, he drew one golden tipped arrow. With perfect aim, he shot the arrow directly at one of the stars in the distance. The arrow travelled perfectly straight as he watched it fly until it was out of his sight. A moment passed where nothing happened and then a magnificent shower of sparks began to rain down in a gigantic firework, the epicenter where the star used to be.

He chuckled wryly to himself. He began to turn so as to begin to find his way back home, but as he did so, he began to notice that all of the stars were flickering out one by one. As the debris from the destroyed star fell and faded so too did the rest of the stars in the sky. Quickly, the entire sky turned to absolute black, making him no more than a silhouette only outlined but the different shades of darkness. As he turned back again to continue on his way, he was stopped by the sight of another silhouette standing directly in his path. He took the figure in for a moment, unable to see a face, and, after a while, finally spoke.

"Why the darkness?" asked Riku.

"The darkness will stay," answered the figure.

"Why?"

"It shall stay."

"Am I not to ask questions?"

"Not until I say that you may."

This caught Riku off guard for a moment. He raised an eyebrow at the figure, and continued playing its game.

"You just answered that one," said Riku, quizzically. "How could one more hurt?"

"One more? That's all there is?"

"There are one million. What is life but questions?"

"Answers. From time to time."

"Beautiful … but I don't believe you for a second."

Riku was now honestly intrigued. He did not know who this figure was; if they were god or man, or if they existed only in this place that seemed a grey area between his mind and the rest of the universe…

The figure raised its head toward the black sky, reaching out above it as if to grasp the stars that were not there. "Quiet your mind and turn your vision inward. You'll find me there. Shrouded as I am now…."

Riku watched closely, fixated on the arm reaching for the darkness. Faintly, he began to hear a ringing as the stars began dotting the sky once more, the figure fading as the light grew. When the stars had been returned to their original state, the figure had faded and disappeared entirely. After a moment, Riku looked around for the source of the electronic sound, realizing that it was coming from his pocket. With a groan he pulled out his cell phone and held it to his ear, "hello?"

"WHERE ARE YOU?" boomed the voice on the other line. Riku quickly pulled the phone away from his ear for fear of losing his hearing and shut it quickly. Exasperatedly, he began to trudge in the direction of home, shoulders slumped.

*Scene shift:

In the palace of the god Aphrodite (Yes, god, _not_ goddess. And may anyone who attempts to argue this be cursed to loneliness for all their lives) a servant was running as fast as his legs would carry him. He ran down a long, flourishing hallway, desperately trying to escape the thing that followed him. He heard angry yelling though, truth be told, he was not really paying attention to the words being yelled (seeing as he was more focused on running than anything else.) However, he could guess the gist of what the figure chasing him was saying. The small part of his brain that was not focused on running noticed that his master had gotten angry over things such as this before. To have the title of Aphrodite, god of love, meant to deal in all things related to love and desire. And with love and desire came quite a bit of stupidity.

The servant skidded as he rounded a corner, narrowly dodging the vase, still full of flowers, that had been thrown rather powerfully at what he could only assume was supposed to have been his head. Sighing slightly, the servant realized that if he were to make it out of this encounter alive, he would probably be asked to clean that up. As this thought crossed his mind, the servant realized that, in all actuality, he didn't particularly care if he lived or not (200 years of indentured servitude tend to make a person rather apathetic) but if he was going to be killed, he refused to let it be at the hand of a crazed God and a vase full of roses when he wasn't even armed. He wanted to at least put up a fight.

The servant threw open the doors of the dining hall and catapulted himself through, a small portrait narrowly missing his shoulder as he flew into the room. He turned forward, sprinting for the kitchens, when he noticed a familiar head of silver hair standing on the far side of the room. He stopped running at once, sliding on the marble floor until he stopped just in front of the person.

"Young… master Riku," the servant panted out.

"Axel?" Riku raised an eyebrow in question, a picture of ease leaning nonchalantly against the wall. "What's going on?"

Axel attempted to catch his breath. "It's … your-"

At that moment the double doors through which Axel had come burst open with such force that they flew off their hinges and left dents and scratches on the marble walls. _Great, _Axel thought to himself. _If I live, I'm going to have to clean _that_ up too._

"AXELLLL!" Marluxia's eyes were trained directly on the redhead as he marched forward, his intentions clearly murderous.

"Umm, Master Riku," said Axel, glancing sideways at Riku as they watched Marluxia approach them quickly. "Not that I'm particularly afraid to die… I mean I only really ran out of instinct and fear of torture… but, uhh, do you want to save me or something?"

Rolling his eyes, Riku stepped forward into Marluxia's line of vision. "Father," Riku spoke in a dry tone.

Finally noticing his son, Marluxia stopped short. "Riku!" he exclaimed, his demeanor instantly changing from that of a wolverine to that of a papillon.

Marluxia stopped in front of his son and clasped him firmly on the shoulder. "Riku. My son. My protégé. Where have you been all day?"

"In the farthest reaches of the galaxy where I might not hear your voice."

"Ah, but you know that there is no place so far," said Marluxia with a low chuckle.

Riku sighed. "So it seems. Why did you call me here, father?"

"Oh come now," Marluxia said sardonically. "Is this any way to greet your father? No exchange of greetings? No casual banter? Where is the love? My son, you are Cupid: God of love and desire. And yet you show no love to even your own father?"

"Titles don't make the person," Riku countered. "Haven't you always said that, _Aphrodite?_"

Marluxia, in one of his trademark deadly mood swings, gave Riku a look that made even _Axel _cringe a little. Riku, however, was not affected and just stared his father down as he asked again, "Father, what on earth did you call me here for? On the phone you seemed like you were in a hurry."

Marluxia took a moment to ease out of his death glare and finally said, "Yes. Well, I was about to do this myself, but since you're here, I'll let you do the honors. I want you to kill Axel."

Behind him, Riku heard a low and very annoyed, "You have _got_ to be kidding me." Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the both of them, Riku asked his father, "_Kill _him?"

"If you please," said Marluxia, somewhat wryly. "But make sure it's not _too _painful. He has been somewhat useful over the years."

"Well, if it won't hurt," Riku turned to see Axel, standing with his arms crossed, looking surprisingly calm for the current situation. "Then go ahead. Working for you has got to be worse than any hell that would await me."

"Hm. Confident words from someone who was running for his life a few seconds ago," Marluxia sneered.

"I stopped _caring_ since then." Axel shifted his weight, looking away from Marluxia.

"This is ridiculous," Riku interjected. "Father, why do want me to kill Axel in the first place?"

"He has insulted me in an unforgivable way," said Marluxia dramatically. "He has undermined my authority as a god and disgraced everything I stand for."

Riku turned to Axel, one eyebrow raised. "Well, did you?"

Axel sighed. "Well, not in so many words … I tried to pay him a compliment."

Riku turned back to his father, his stare deadpanning more and more by the second. "…Father?"

Marluxia squared his shoulders defensively. "It was the use of _one word _in particular. _One word_ to insult every aspect of myself."

Riku's and Axel's expressions were almost matching at this point. "Axel," Riku was almost afraid to ask. "What exactly did you _say?"_

"I walked into your father's office to serve him tea and I said, 'You seem to be in good spirits. Your hair is particularly pink today.'"

"PINK!" Marluxia shouted with more disgust than anyone has ever had for a color. "PINK! The most unmanly color in all of existence!"

"But father," Riku said exasperatedly. "Your hair _is _actually – "

"IT'S FREAKING ROUGE, DAMMIT!" Marluxia yelled; arms in the air and face turned toward the sky as if he intended the whole universe to hear his hair's proper color.

Marluxia's voice echoed though the hall as Riku brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Father, I understand you have a bit of a complex about your manliness … but seriously? You call me all the way back here for _this?" _

"They all mistake me for a woman!" continued Marluxia in an angry rant. "It's ridiculous. Damn to the depths of Hades whoever made that first typo as _Goddess_ Aphrodite. _Just _because of the hair!"

"I'd be willing to bet that the flowers are a factor too," remarked Axel, not really helping his own situation.

"CAN A MAN NOT ENJOY GARDENING!" Marluxia yelled to no one in particular, his voice again resounding through the dining hall.

"Father," Riku sighed, "This is the stupidest thing you have ever asked me to do. If this is really the only reason why you called me here today, then I'm leaving." Riku turned on heel and began to walk toward the door.

"Wait, Riku!" Marluxia called, suddenly calm again, to his son. "I need your help."

"In so many ways …." Riku turned slowly, feeling the beginnings of a migraine. "But what am I _here for?"_

"Psyche," said Marluxia darkly.

Riku paused for a moment, pulled up short by his father's expression. Marluxia was known throughout Olympus for what could technically be classified as manic depressive behavior; it was even expected amongst the servants, but that did not make his bad moods any less scary.

Nevertheless Riku kept a calm façade as he faced his father again and asked, "What on earth is a Psyche?"

"Psyche is a young human. A prince of a small kingdom on a small archipelago known as Destiny Islands. His people adore him. So much so that they have left my temples to go worship _him_ instead! And it's not just the islands. Word of him is spreading and people are flocking from all over. The entire world is slowly forgetting about me. If a god is not needed anymore, he dies! You don't want your poor, dear father to die, do you, Riku?"

"Personally," Axel interjected, "I think it might be a benefit to all if that were to happen."

"Do you _really_ think it wise to be speaking right now?" asked Marluxia quietly, shooting Axel a look that effectively shut him up.

"I'm not an assassin," said Riku, ignoring the death glare that was being beamed rather powerfully in Axel's direction. "Why would you have _me _kill this prince?"

"Oh you're not going to kill him." Marluxia looked at his son again, switching right back into scheming mode (Axel's shoulders visibly relaxed when Marluxia took his eyes off of him). "That wouldn't make me look good at all. I'd come across as vengeful. No, the people have to willingly come back to me."

"And how am _I _supposed to accomplish this?" Riku was beginning to get the feeling that his father would not get over this very easily.

"It's simple, really," said Marluxia. "Rather than kill him, you must make him fall in love."

"Love?" Axel asked, easing back into his typical informality. "Wouldn't that be more of a blessing?"

"Not in every case," countered Riku darkly. He was beginning to see the line of his father's logic.

"Exactly," smirked Marluxia. "Don't make him fall in love with just anyone. No. Make him fall in love with the most repulsive candidate possible. Have him fall in love with the most hideous girl on the planet."

"If people really love him as much as you say they do," sighed Riku, " then even if I fate him to an ugly girl, the rest of them would only fight more violently for his affections. They'd probably have the poor girl murdered just for another chance at him."

"Then fate him to something even more ridiculous than an ugly girl!" It was becoming increasingly apparent at this point that Marluxia was _very _determined to ruin this prince. "Make him fall in love with an animal… yes, like cow or… or a plant! Or- NO! A wall."

"A _wall?"_ Riku stared at his father incredulously, attempting to convince himself that Marluxia had _not _just said that_._

"The entire population will be disgusted and confused!" Marluxia was grinning evilly. "They won't just leave him, they'll shuffle away awkwardly. Who knows, the entire kingdom may crumble because of this!"

Feeling that his father felt a bit too happy about this possibility, Riku pointed out, "What happened to not being vengeful, father? You're the god of love, not the god of Chaos."

"With love, my son, comes a _considerable amount_ of chaos."

It took Riku a moment to process the fact that his father was actually _serious_ about this. Becoming quickly exasperated, Riku said, "Okay, you know what I said earlier about killing Axel being the stupidest thing you've ever asked me to do? Yeah, forget that. _This is the stupidest thing you have ever asked me to do!"_

"It's extreme enough to actually work and I need you to pull it off for me." Riku sighed upon hearing those words. Marluxia had this _fun_ little habit of not actually _asking_ when he needed something done. He simply told others that he _needed_ it done and it was to be assumed that _they_ were expected to do it. This was a trait of his father's that Riku had, though reluctantly, learned to live with over the years.

Riku ran a hand through his hair in frustration. It was apparent that Marluxia would not let this one go until Riku did as he asked. Not seeing any point in attempting further refusal, Riku said, "Let it be known that I only do this out of boredom."

"Excellent," said Marluxia, still smirking evilly.

"But I need to take Axel with me."

"What? Why?"

"You were about to kill him anyway, right?" said Riku. "I might need some help for this one. You two hate each other anyway."

"True," said Marluxia. "Very well, you can have him."

"Good. In that case, Axel," Riku turned to the redhead, who looked just as apathetic as ever. "Go send some scouts to scope out Destiny Islands. I want some information about this kingdom and its royal family."

"Sure, whatever." Axel stuffed his hands into his pockets and ambled out of the dining hall. As he walked past the giant hole in the wall where the double doors used to be, he called over his shoulder, "By the way, I am _not _cleaning this up!"

Riku rolled his eyes again as he turned to walk away from his father. "Father, sometimes I worry about you."

"Oh, I'd save the worry for yourself, my son." Riku heard, but did not turn as he walked out of the hall, leaving his father to stare after him.

**Author's note:**

If you're wondering about the "*scene shift" thing it's because I WANTED to put a line break or something in the story to show that the scene was shifting, but whenever I tried, it wouldn't SAVE! it would just erase it whenever I put a bunch of dashes in there. stuff like "!#$%^&*()*&^%$#!" worked just fine, but it looks dumb. D: Whatever. Please rate and review. :)


	2. Scene 2: Stars and Rooftops

Riku was slumped against a wall, taking a moment to plan the execution of the task at hand. Axel waltzed in with a large pile of arrows and dumped them at his feet. Riku sat and began sorting through the arrows, differentiating between the gold tipped and lead tipped.

"You know, I've always been one to talk out of turn," said Axel casually. "And I think that there's more to your father's plan than he lets on."

"Oh do you?" replied Riku, calmly.

"Yes. I've been his servant for almost two centuries and honestly I don't trust him one bit."

"Well that makes two of us. But let's not worry about my father's motives for now."

"Why not?" said Axel, both disappointed and confused.

"Because, in the end, I don't care what his real motives are. I'm doing this out of boredom, remember? The sooner I can get this prince out of my father's hair, the sooner he'll get out of mine."

"Oh what a tangled mess we attempt to brush," said Axel, attempting to be clever.

"Funny," said Riku, not really thinking so. "But either way, the task at hand is simple, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal."

"I have to say, though. You're father has a sick sense of humor. Making someone fall in love with a wall? That's just weird."

"Sadly enough, it's not that weird," said Riku. "People have fallen in love with stranger things. Even gods have trouble finding love in normal places. Just ask Apollo."

"Love's an odd thing, isn't it?" asked Axel sardonically.

"Indeed …" Riku stared forward thoughtfully.

After a moment of watching him, Axel spoke up. "So… have_ you_ ever, ya know?"

"Wait, what?"

"You know; golden arrow through the heart? Have you ever tasted your own medicine?"

"Have I ever been in love?" Axel nodded. "I couldn't even if I wanted to." Riku's tone was dismissive but Axel was persistent.

"Oh come on. The god of love has never even frolicked in his own fields?"

"My fields? What? No, it's not that it's just….Never mind. We should both go to bed. We have things to do tomorrow. Goodnight, Axel."

"Aw, but how am I supposed to sleep without a bedtime story?"

Riku sighed, exasperated. This servant was certainly one of the most annoying he had ever encountered. He had never told this secret to anyone (mostly due to the fact that no one ever cared enough to listen) but it seemed Axel would not give up until he was given some sort of explanation so Riku decided to just make with the introspection.

"You see, as crazy as it sounds…. There is a person…. Someone I hold inside my heart."

"They must be very small." Axel grinned, leaning forward and raising an eyebrow teasingly.

Riku exhaled sharply but continued. "Whenever I go to sleep, there's someone there. Always the same person who greets me. I don't know who it is. I never see their face. But they talk to me in my dreams…. And honestly," for a moment, Riku stretched his arm out above him, gazing through his fingers and attempting to grasp the stars, "I don't think anyone else could measure up."

"I don't get it," said Axel.

Riku closed his hand slowly and then dropped his arm. "No….you wouldn't."

"So there's someone who appears to you in your dreams, huh? A woman?" Axel waggled his eyebrows ever so slightly.

Riku grimaced. This was the _other _secret he had never told to anyone, though it was common enough in the realm of the gods that no one would really care. "No… not exactly."

"Oh so you're one of those," said Axel, understanding immediately. "There seems to be an odd surplus of gods here on Olympus who prefer their own gender over that of the opposite gender. It's almost funny."

"I am the god of love," Shot Riku indignantly. "I don't have to explain myself. I can have anyone I want: man, woman, or even both at the same time."

At this, Axel began to laugh. "Whoah, okay, too much information" Axel's laughter died down after a moment as Riku continued to glare at him. "Although, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't the exact same way."

Riku, who had been fuming until this point, was pulled up short by the sudden change of Axel's words. He took them in for a moment and then looked back and the servant, who had leaned back to look into the distance, looking pensive.

"You know, I don't think you know the story of how I came to be your father's servant."

Riku said nothing. It was true; he had not heard the story. It had never interested him. Axel had seemingly showed up one day in a tuxedo and long coattails. Riku had never once questioned it.

"Of course," Axel continued, "The main reason I've never told this story is that anyone who wasn't involved didn't give a damn."

"No. You've caught my interest now. I'd like to know," said Riku, attempting to sound aloof so as to hide his true level of curiosity.

Axel smiled wryly. "Alright," he said. "But only because you asked … You see, a long time ago I was actually alive. I was a different person with a different name. Just a kid from a small town with no real direction to go. My best friend, Isa, and I would always get into trouble. He was always the more motivated of the two of us. By the time we were teenagers he had gotten a job and was advancing in school while I couldn't be bothered to care. Needless to say, he was always busy and we didn't have that much time to hang out.

"I was living in constant boredom and every day got lonelier and lonelier. But then one day … I ended up meeting someone. He was asking for directions. He told me he was a traveler and that he was looking for some friends of his. I showed him around the town, we ended up talking, I found out he'd been to dozens of places looking for his friends. His stories were incredible to me. The things he'd seen, the people he'd met, the things he'd had to fight. I couldn't believe it especially since he was younger than I was. He was really small too. He had these big blue eyes that just stared at you like he was begging you to adopt him. After about an hour with him I realized that he was probably the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life.

"We ended up talking until the sun went down. When I asked him where he was going next he said he wanted to stay in the town for a few days. We saw each other every day, a few days turned into a week, and a week turned into two…. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think I was in love with him ever since that first day. Every evening we would climb up on the rooftops and watch the sunset, just talking about everything. When we ran out of things to talk about, we would just sit there, watching the world go by….. One day, I finally just gave up. I kissed him and I told him how I felt. He was surprised but after a minute he told me that he felt the same way.

"The few days that followed were probably the happiest of my life. We planned to leave the town and look for his friends together. I'd get to travel, and we'd get to be with each other. We spent a day or two packing and getting provisions for the trip. When we weren't packing … well let's just say that thing progressed …. Quickly. We were perfect together …. "

There was a long pause. Riku watched wordlessly as Axel sighed unsteadily and ran a shaky hand through his hair.

"The night before we were supposed to leave we decided to watch the sunset from the tallest roof in the town. We scaled the wall and were almost to the top when we realized that the tiles were loose. Before we knew it, we were sliding off the roof. I managed to catch myself on the edge before I fell but I didn't grab him fast enough before he slipped off the roof….. I couldn't even do anything. I couldn't even bring myself to let go …. I watched him fall about 4 stories before he hit the ground face first. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't pass out from trauma or something. To this day I kinda wish I had... maybe then I wouldn't remember exactly what it sounded like when his skull cracked open on the pavement… The town doctor told me that he would probably die within the day.

"I was desperate. I did the only thing I could think of; I ran to the temple of Asclepius, god of health, and offered myself up. I would have done anything to keep him alive." Axel chuckled in what was clearly a poor attempt to shake off his own emotions, "Ya know, they always told me that the gods answer our prayers but this was more literal than I had ever imagined. All of a sudden, there was Asclepius standing in front of me. So we made a deal. My soul in exchange for his recovery. I would have spent an eternity in Hell if necessary. I just wanted him to live … It didn't work out quite like I'd planned, though. Rather than letting me live out the rest of my life and waiting until I died to take my soul, Asclepius just brought me to Olympus as soon as we'd sealed the deal. He'd held up the end of the bargain. Ventus had recovered by the next day …. But I had disappeared.

"No one knew where I'd gone. The last people to see me were bystanders I passed while running through town to the temple… People stopped looking for me after a while. My parents; even Isa stopped looking for me …. But Ventus kept looking …. He never found his other friends; the ones he had been looking for when he first came to Radient Garden. And he never found me… He ended up becoming lost in the underworld a few months later. He went there to search for me."

Riku had been stunned into silence at this point. He had heard stories with sad endings (being a god of love and desire, you tend to hear many of them) but to hear something like this told firsthand…. He kept looking at Axel, allowing him a moment of pause to reflect on the painful memory. When the moment was over, Axel exhaled quickly and adopted a quicker, much more casual tone for the end of his story.

"So, as soon as I got to Olympus I found out that Asclepius only made the deal with me because your father intervened in the name of love. That and he wanted a new servant. So they dressed me in this ridiculous butler outfit, gave me the name Axel, and since then I've been the unwilling slave of the god of love. Ironic, huh?"

Riku was still at a loss. His eyebrows creased and he avoided Axel's gaze.

"And that," Axel said. "is _your_ bedtime story."

"Pretty depressing for a bedtime story, don't you think?" Riku grumbled.

"Well, either way, we should get some sleep. We have a perilous date with a beautiful prince tomorrow."

Riku snorted, "If that's what you want to call it. Ah, yes, on your mission to retrieve the spies today …"

Axel turned after a moment, "Yes?"

"Did you, by any chance, catch a glimpse of this prince?"

"I saw him for a moment as I was shaking the scouts out of their stupor," said Axel hesitantly.

"… _And?_"

"To be honest ….. he …. Reminds me a lot of Ventus. He looks just like him …" Axel tilted his head to one side and threw a Riku an unreadable look. "Needless to say, the image brought back some memories and I was stuck there for a while myself."

Riku sighed, slipping back into his defaulted state of boredom. "Well, like you said, we'd better get some sleep if we plan to take out this prince tomorrow."

And with that, Riku walked from the room, dousing the lights as he did so.

**Author's note:**

DEVELOPMENT ON AXEL'S PART! Oh yeah. X] I personally love the LeaxVentus pairing cos I kinda see it as a parallel to Akuroku. You're free to disagree, but that's just how I feel x]

Okay so this chapter was a little shorter than the last one. I'll be honest, I actually have a decent chunk of this story written but I'm not writing it in order xD

And honestly, writing is really fun but unfortunately I don't always get motivated. :/ But I swear: if at least one person likes the story and really wants me to keep writing, I will write the whole thing for that one person. X] Seriously. So if you like it, then please review and stuff. :) Thanks again for reading this!


	3. Scene 3: Light

**Hola hombres! **

**Okay, so I am SORRY that this thing hasn't been updated since before Christmas. I had written a part of it and then my hard drive decided to fugging CRASH taking everything I had written with it T_T luckily, most of what I had had already been posted online or backed up on a separate drive, but I had to completely rewrite those two scenes and if you know me at all, you know that I do NOT like redoing stuff. Needless to say, it took a while. But anyway, here's the third chapter. :D**

*Scene Shift

In a small but elegant palace on Destiny Islands, a king paced the floor in front of his youngest child's bedroom. His son had holed himself up in his room in an attempt to hide from the adoring crowd. King Cloud, not one to be particularly social in the first place, was finding it difficult to console his son. Indeed, Cloud quite had the urge to join him in hiding. But no, he was a king. He needed to behave like a king. To be diplomatic and honorable as a king should … he struggled to remind himself why he ever accepted the stupid throne in the first place.

Standing at the door were his other two children, the prince's older sisters. The younger sister stood with her hands locked together, eyes filled with concern for her younger brother. The eldest, however, was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, with a devilish smirk on her face, clearly enjoying the torment of everyone else in the situation.

"Well obviously," she sneered, tossing her short blonde hair over her shoulder. "The little prince has decided to be a diva and won't greet all of his adoring fans. How juvenile of him – "

"Larxene," Cloud interjected. "We really don't need your attitude right now."

"_You're _the one who brought me here, Father. If you didn't want me to point out the unpleasant truths that no one else will, then you shouldn't have asked me to come."

"Father," Namine, the younger sister, interjected. "I'm as worried about him as you are, but I'm not sure anything that we say can help him. If only there were some way to really help him, I'd do anything. I'd – "

"Oh please. Spare us your sad little sob story about how you can never help anyone. We've heard it already." Larxene's voice cut like knives and Namine shrunk more and more with each word.

At this point, Cloud was very obviously frustrated. "I brought _both_ of you to try and _console_ your brother. Because we're _supposed_ to be a family. Families help each other!"

Cloud glared at the both of them. Namine stared quietly at the floor as Larxene rolled her eyes, turning her face away from the both of them. Realizing that he was not getting anywhere with this, Cloud turned to knock and then called through the door, "…. Psyche?"

"Don't call me that!" a muffled voice shouted back.

Namine spoke quietly. "He hates that title. He always did prefer to be called by his middle name."

"What's the point of trying to give him comfort anyway? He's got an ever-growing crowd of people who are willingly throwing themselves at his feet. Women are practically _flinging_ themselves at him …. Not that it matters to him. Of course we all know that women don't even appeal –"

"Larxene!" Cloud practically snarled. "Don't even imply things like that."

"Father …" Namine started.

"No! Both of you! Dammit! How did I end up with daughters like you? Larxene when did you become so vicious and heartless?"

"Must be hereditary," Larxene sneered.

Cloud ignored her, "And you, Namine. You're so beautiful. So smart. So why do you let your sister pull you around by the hand all the time?"

Namine's shoulders stiffened visibly. "I – I uh …. Well uh …"

Cloud sighed exasperatedly. Would there be no end to the trouble with his children? He turned again to bang his fist against the door. "Son! Son, can you hear me in there? Sora!"

And at that moment, Sora stepped out of the room. "I …. I want to talk to them."

*Scene Shift

The sun was just beginning to set over the palace as Riku and Axel took up their positions, hidden perfectly from sight.

"So we're just going to wait here until the prince shows up?" asked Axel.

"I've got a perfect vantage point of that balcony. The second he steps out, I'll take aim."

"Hmmmm …." trailed Axel vaguely, still looking at Riku with skepticism. After a moment, Riku sighed in exasperation. "What?" he asked, looking back at the red head with annoyance.

"Well it's just that … you're a god."

"Yes."

"And therefore you have ridiculous amounts of power."

"Yes."

"So _technically_," pressed Axel, becoming more impatient by the second, "you _could_ just become invisible and float up there and shoot this prince with one of your arrows all the while not leaving any sort of indication that you were there?"

"In a nutshell, yes," said Riku boredly, staring up at the empty balcony.

"Okay, and we're lying in the bushes _why_?" inquired Axel, curiosity turning into downright frustration.

"Because doing things efficiently is boring. There are moments, like this one, where I like doing things the hard way." After another moment of Axel staring at him, Riku sighed. "You don't get it."

"Nope" replied Axel, popping the "p" dramatically.

"You wouldn't," said Riku, giving up.

"All I know is that we're lying in some bushes waiting to make a prince fall in love with a wall and I'm still not really sure how I got dragged into this whole thing."

"Here he comes," said Riku in a low voice. Axel immediately crouched down and watched as the prince stepped onto the balcony.

The crowd quickly flew into a cheering frenzy as the young man walked out from behind the curtains. His tired eyes perked up as they moved across the expanse of the throng. The sun caught the boy's caramel hair and swept through it like caressing fingers. Riku could see lean muscle moving beneath tan skin as the prince's arms moved to hush the crowd. When, finally, everyone had calmed themselves sufficiently, the young prince began to speak.

"Everyone! Please! …. I can't tell you all the feelings that you've given me. It's an honor to be so cherished by you all. To be surrounded by you night and day. Really, I'm grateful to you all. But honestly, it's too much. I don't deserve all of this. I mean, I'm really not that special. I'm no different from any of you. I have a home and a family who loves me even though we fight sometimes. I get up every morning and I go to sleep at night …. Although not so much lately … Look, thank you for all that you've done, but please just go back home. Go back to just living your lives for yourselves. If not for your sake, then for mine."

The crowd began to grow restless again.

"Please," Sora implored. "I know you don't understand. But neither do I! …. I don't understand …."

Axel shook Riku urgently. "He's about to go back inside! Hurry up and shoot him!" Axel continued shaking Riku's shoulders, but a moment later as the crowd flew into an even more desperate state of turmoil, an arm reached out from the other side of the curtains and tugged the young prince back inside.

Axel was about to turn on Riku, many words coming to his mind ("what the hell?" being at the top of the list), but then he froze with a sudden realization.

Hesitantly, Axel turned his head to look at Riku. He seemed to be deep in thought; his eyes confused, still staring up at the balcony; his mouth hanging open slightly. Axel was beginning to put two and two together. He waited for Riku to speak.

After a long moment, Riku closed his lips and swallowed. Finally, he spoke one word:

"Light…."

*Scene Shift

In the palace the king sat, watching his only son who was staring out the window.

"They won't leave," he said hopelessly.

"….. Psyche-"

"Don't call me that, please," the young prince insisted gently. "I'm sick of hearing my name shouted to the sky. Please, father, just call me by my middle name. You always used to call me by it anyway. I like it better."

"Sora," Cloud revised, "I'm not sure what else I can do. I have tried everything."

"And I've tried the _only_ thing …." He brought his arms up desperately in a gesture of surrender, still staring out the window, and went to grip the drape.

"Well," he said. "I suppose it could be worse … having hordes of people willing to do anything for you …. It could be worse …."

"Could it?"

After a moment, Sora hung his head in desperation. "No …."

"Come on," Cloud sighed, "You should get away from the window."

Sora unclenched his fingers from the curtain and walked over toward the couch.

"I don't understand," groaned Sora, sitting next to his father, "Why they adore me like this? It doesn't make any sense"

"I don't know," Cloud stood and began pacing the length of the couch while Sora hugged his knees. "It's like they're under a spell. There are countless women begging you to marry them … men too! How much more desperate can they all get?" Cloud gestured out the window in frustration, catching glimpses of the crowd of onlookers through the curtains. "Isn't it ridiculous?"

"…. Yeah ….." The distractedness in his son's voice startled him. Cloud glanced back at Sora for a brief moment and saw that his eyes were downcast, a preoccupied look on his face, as if he were thinking about something troubling.

After a pause, Cloud cleared his throat and said, "Well, at least you're handling all of this well. Your two sisters wouldn't have done so well. Namine would have cracked under pressure and Larxene would have used the power to declare herself queen and then we'd all be screwed."

Sora attempted to chuckle but all that was produced was a tired sort of half smile. "I'm just not really sure what I'm supposed to do …"

Cloud sat next to his son again, placing a hand on his shoulder. "My son, we are men of royalty with striking features. And sometimes, we must endure the rabid fangirls that come with the territory. We'll find a way to deal with this but for now, I'm going to bed. Good night, Sora."

Cloud walked from the room and Sora hugged his knees closer. "Good night, Father."

*Scene Shift

Axel was trying not to laugh. Really, he was. I mean, you really couldn't blame someone for appreciating the utter irony of this situation. Nevertheless, Riku's expression and behavior at this particular moment in time were out of sorts at best, manic at the worst. And so, Axel tried not to laugh. He stared at his young master's expression – eyes wracked with utter confusion, twitchy hands running through his messy hair now and again, teeth biting on the inside of his cheek – and tried not to laugh.

He was trying. Really he was…. Really …. Pfffffffft –

"I didn't have the shot." Riku's words caught Axel off guard, completely derailing his train of thought.

With new-found confusion, Axel blinked at him. "What?" he said after a moment.

"I didn't have the shot," Riku said again. "There were trees in the way and the marble railing on that balcony was too high so I wasn't sure if I could get a clear shot at his heart. Not to mention the wind shift…."

Axel took a moment to let Riku's words sink in. When he realized what Riku was trying to say …. Oh Gods. He didn't even get it!

Oh. Okay. Yep, that's it.

"Pfffffffffffffftttttt- HAAAAHAHAHAAAAAAHAHA!" Axel chortled steadily for a good ten seconds before Riku could shake himself out of his stupor long enough to realize that someone was laughing at him.

"Hey!" Riku yelled. "Stop laughing at me! What the hell is so funny?"

"…. Sorry…" Axel said. He made an earnest attempt to calm himself. "But do you really not get what is clearly happening here?"

Riku blinked at him, eyes full of confusion.

"You are just so oblivious. Look, I've lived for a while and while I may not have seen the expanse of the cosmos or whatever, I know a thing or two about love. Well, enough to know it when I see it, anyway. And from what I just saw, I think it's pretty clear. You're in love with him."

Riku blinked again. "Love?" he took a moment to let the word sink in, and then looked back at the ground. "Ridiculous."

"Oh come on," said Axel in an almost condescending tone. "I know how it is with you celestial beings. There's no get-to-know-you-how-do-you-do-will-you-join-me-for-dinner crap. It's all intuition. And you…" he thwacked Riku gently on the shoulder to make sure he was still paying attention. "…have got it _bad_."

Riku continued to stare intensely at the ground, attempting to explain away Axel's proposition. Love? Him? The very thought of it made no logical sense whatsoever …. However, Riku knew love. He knew it didn't follow the laws of logic ….

Riku tried to think of it from a different angle. What had distracted him? He had been ready to take the shot, his hand on his bow and then…. What? Something about that prince had distracted him. There was something about his eyes, the way his arms moved, the way the sun swept through his hair…

Riku snapped himself out of it and forced himself to listen to what Axel was saying, "Man, I haven't laughed like that since I was alive. I'm _enjoying_ this." He rolled his head in order to glance sideways at Riku with a snarky smile. "You guys are something else."

"Is this really what it feels like? To be hit by one of my arrows?"

"What? Heart racing, breath short, random scattered thoughts, stomach queasy?"

"Yeah! All of that!"

"Yep,"

"I'm never firing one of these things again!" Riku took the quiver of arrows from his back and tossed it aside in horror as he spoke.

Axel chuckled again. "Oh come on. It's not like it's the end of the world."

"I wish it were!" Riku desperately threaded his hands through his hair. "Anything but this!" he gestured wildly. "Love! This is horrible!"

Axel was clearly amused by all this. He leaned back, arms behind his head – an old habit he'd picked up from somewhere – and smiled, his face vaguely reminiscent.

Riku sat for a few minutes, trying to think and rethink the situation over and over. But every time he attempted to approach the problem from a new angle, he always got off track before he could come to a decent conclusion. He'd start thinking about the prince. His tired eyes, so full of wonder and speculation, a clear thirst for adventure written into his very features; his caramel hair, in constant disarray, it was pretty clear that he never really bothered brushing it, probably because it made no difference; his voice, the clear, honest way he spoke… the way his teeth gleamed beneath his… lips…

"I have to talk to him." Riku stood suddenly.

"What?" said Axel, following suit. "Talk to who?"

"Apollo. He's a god of intellect and science and logic. He's probably the only one who can help me."

"You mean god of shortness and sulkiness?" Axel said. Riku had to admit, the title that Axel had made up certainly fit Apollo to a tee. "Uhh, I'll admit I'm not one to avoid conflict, but Apollo? He hates you."

"Axel," said Riku, his voiced clipped. "Who is the god here?"

Axel sighed, turning his head to look away from Riku. Clearly, he was not going to win this argument. "That would be you."

"Exactly," confirmed Riku. "I'm the god, and I won't submit to this… this _feeling_. I won't succumb to the very thing I'm supposed to have control over."

And with that, Riku strode off, Axel trailing exasperatedly behind him.

**Ta-freaking-da. Sorry you had to wait like a month for that T_T I SWEAR, it's gonna get good real soon :)**

**Woooooooooo appearance of "Apollo" next chapter. :D Who else thinks of Ace Attorney whenever they hear the name "Apollo" and NOT the Greek God? Anyone? Just me? **

**REVIEW! Please? It tickles my soul and all that shiz when people review. It gets me motivated. :D **


	4. Scene 4: Plans

**I have no excuse. Really I don't. I'm not dead though. Just a sucky person for not updating in so long. I'm not even gonna apologize because it will make no difference (I'm so sucky, I've surpassed being able to apologize. Omg). Well… have a chapter.**

*Scene Shift:

The palace of the great god Apollo; god of intellect and science; better known by his friends as Zexion (at least he _would have been_ better known by his friends as Zexion if he had any friends) was, as far as palaces on Olympus go, certainly one of the most logically decorated. Few paintings hung on the walls and the color scheme was a monochrome palate of off-whites and light beiges. Anyone who knew Zexion knew that this décor fit him to a tee.

Riku and Axel strode in through the front hallway, their footsteps echoing dramatically against the white marble floors. There was no other sound to be heard in this expansive mansion, not even the sound of a servant shuffling about. As the two made their way past the rooms, they looked but could not seem to find him. Finally, they poked their heads through a door at the end of the hallway and found themselves standing in a simple but grand drawing room.

"It's _freezing _in here," said Axel, finally speaking up.

Riku looked around distractedly, "He likes it that way."

"It's really clean."

"He likes it that way too."

Axel looked away from the paneling on the ceiling to glance sideways at Riku, "Have I mentioned that this is a bad idea?"

"Several times."

"He won't help you, you know."

"He will when he hears what I'm offering."

"Oh really?" Axel did not sound convinced at all. "How long has it been?"

"I… a while."

Axel rolled his head and shoulders, stretching them out in a fashion that could only be described as resigned. "Yeeeeeeeah. This is all gonna go horribly wrong," he stated matter-of-factly.

At that moment, the double doors swung open again. Riku and Axel spun around quickly to find him standing there.

He was dressed strictly; white shirt buttoned all the way and tucked in neatly under black slacks, a laurel of branches resting on his head. He stood nonchalantly, his hands in his pockets, his expression cold as if he were not particularly pleased that Riku and Axel were there. The sharp look in his steely eyes seemed as though it would be enough to cut through bone if aimed in the right direction. Also: he was rather short, but he didn't really react well whenever anyone mentioned it.

"Apollo," began Riku, attempting to sound confident. "Sorry for showing up on such short notice, but I'm currently in the middle of a very… _odd _problem."

Zexion's stare did not falter.

Riku stalled for a moment. "…and I would appreciate your help dealing with it."

….

"….._Please._"

Zexion flicked his eyes away from Riku's face quickly and sharply. Taking particular care to draw out each step, he sauntered around Riku, examining him empirically from head to toe as he went. Riku didn't move as Zexion made his way around him. Once he had made half a revolution around the boy, he stopped, clicked his heels, and briskly walked further into the drawing room.

"How is your father?" asked Zexion nonchalantly.

"He's been better," replied Riku stiffly.

"Indeed, I've heard." Zexion picked a tea cup off the table and began examining it closely, clearly not interested in what Riku was saying though he had asked.

"He's having a problem with a young prince by the name of Psyche."

"Yes…"

"His followers have stopped going to his temple and choose to stay by the prince's side instead."

"Mmmm…"

"So my father asked me to do away with this prince."

"Of course…"

"And in the process I…. I've uh… fallen in love with him."

At this, Zexion was pulled up short. He turned slowly to look at Riku, his face a mixture of interest and poorly concealed amusement. "_Really."_

Riku sighed, already exasperated. "Please don't start with me about it. I came here because I think you can help me fix…." He gestured awkwardly at himself, "_this."_

Zexion's stare hardened slightly. "No person, not even the gods, can change their preference. It is not something we can simply –"

"_That's not what I meant!"_ Riku quickly interjected. "I've come to you because I'm in _love_ with a _human. _I'm the _god _of love. I can't give in to the very thing I'm supposed to _control._ You're a god of science and logic. Help me get my head screwed back on right! Tell me how to talk myself out of this… this _love _thing."

Zexion's stare had gone from amused to outright dumbfounded. Riku could practically feel his cold grey eyes asking, _Are you really that stupid? _Riku held his ground and stared right back, expecting some question of his sanity or intelligence in regards to the idea of extinguishing his love to burst forth from Zexion's lips and any second. The question came, sure enough. Albiet, not as Riku originally thought.

"Need you be reminded of how much I hate you?"

"That's what _I _told him!" said Axel, speaking up for the first time.

"You come here asking me to help you," Zexion continued, ignoring Axel's remark. "I, who have endured the pain that _you _have caused me, I who have been subjected to your golden arrows and your smug little attitude."

"Smug?"

"_Smug._"

"Well, I guess if I'm getting your help, I'll have to put up with your insults?" Riku gritted his teeth slightly.

"Do you need my help or not?" countered Zexion.

"Make no mistake, I don't _need _it."

"Then get out!"

"I will!" Riku set his shoulders and stood tall. "I'll leave right now and I'll fix this stupid thing myself if I have to and you'll have no part of it!"

Zexion looked as if he were about to take Riku up on this offer.

"But," Riku continued, beginning to walk toward Zexion, hands slipping into his pockets in a sly fashion. "If you _were _to help me, then that means you will have won. I'd be seeking advice from _you_. Effectively," Riku dropped dramatically onto one knee, arms spread wide in a gesture of surrender before continuing. "I am at your feet."

Zexion made no move other than to examine Riku with an almost quizzical countenance. For a long moment, the two stared at each other, Zexion trying to read and Riku waiting to be read. Not a breath was heard from any of them for a long moment. Then, finally, Zexion turned on heel and went back to examining the tea cup.

"So tell me about this prince." He said with new animation, clearly amused by the whole situation. "You're in love with him, yes?"

"Well, I…" Riku stood and blushed slightly, staring at the floor. "Yes…"

"You cannot seem to think of anything else."

"Yes…"

"_But,"_ it was apparent from the his gestures and the way he was now pacing back and forth, swinging the tea cup for emphasis that Zexion was beginning to take interest in Riku's case; delving into the problem and theorizing about how to solve it as if it were another one of his experiments. "Your father wishes for him to be eliminated."

"Yes."

"Which separates you."

"Yes!"

"Well it's settled then." Zexion whirled around to look at Riku with an expression that could have been accurately described as wild had it been on anyone else. "Steal him. Make him your own."

Riku's expression accurately mimicked the one Zexion had earlier. The expression that had asked, _Are you really that stupid?_ "I fail to see how this helps me."

"It's only logical," Zexion's voice was calculating. "This boy is the source of your fear and therefore your enemy. The only way to conquer fear is to face it head on."

"By making him mine?"

"A relationship is the ultimate battle. Isn't the point to see who will fall in love with who more?"

"My father would kill me."

"This complex you seem to have with your father; are you quite certain it's entirely healthy?... Never mind. You'll steal him and whisk him away to your castle in the World that Never Was."

"I don't _have _a castle in the World that Never Was," said Riku confusedly.

"You can use mine," Zexion continued offhandedly. "I won it in a bet with Hades a long time ago but ever since I cleaned out the labs for equipment, I haven't had any use for it."

"I see, and how exactly do I get him there?" Riku was still confused for the most part.

"Don't you have the ability to be the least bit creative?" Zexion took a moment to give Riku his best attempt at a sincerely disappointed look before continuing. "Go to his father, the king. Take the form of some hideous apparition and appear to him. He, of course, will beg for his life. You then will take that opportunity and promise to spare his life on one condition…"

"His youngest child."

"Exactly."

"But there's another problem."

Zexion looked halfway between exasperated and entertained. "And that would be?"

"I'm the god of Desire. When humans look at my face, they instantly fall in love with me."

Zexion's eyebrow arched sardonically. "Isn't that a _good _thing?"

"It's not real love if he only falls for my face or the magical power in my eyes."

Zexion scoffed and turned his head away from Riku. "So because you're a god you want him to _choose _you?"

"If I were a beggar or Zues himself it wouldn't matter. I'd still want him to choose me."

Zexion looked back, catching, for a moment, the serious look on Riku's face; the earnestness in his eyes and, for that moment, was captivated. The tension was broken a moment later when Riku averted his gaze to the floor in a manner that suggested that his statement was, in truth, more heartfelt than he was even comfortable with. His expression seemed to say _Did I seriously just say that?_ _How lame. _

Silence hung in the air for a moment before Zexion finally continued. "Alright. It's settled then. You'll steal him, marry him, whatever. But he'll never see your face."

"...You've lost me. How am I supposed to – "

"Keep the lights dim."

"Always?"

"Always."

"Will that even work?"

Zexion was clearly growing quickly tired of being questioned. "If you didn't want to follow my advice, you shouldn't have asked for it. Now get going. You have your plan. You're handsome prince awaits you."

**I'm just not gonna make any promises about when the next chapter will be out. Only that I've kind of taken up a new attitude toward writing and that I no longer believe in writer's block; only laziness. And I have a lot of time right now so who knows. There might even be an update like once a week. We'll see how it goes. Thank you to everyone who is still reading this.**


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